1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to the field of skin treatment, and more specifically to apparatuses and methods for treating a person's skin.
2. Description of the Related Art
Abrasion of the outer layer or epidermis of the skin is desirable to smooth or blend scars, blemishes, or other skin conditions that may be caused by, for example, acne, sun exposure, and aging. Standard techniques used to abrade the skin have generally been separated into two fields referred to as dermabrasion and microdermabrasion. Both techniques remove portions of the epidermis called the stratum corneum, which the body interprets as a mild injury. The body then replaces the lost skin cells, resulting in a new outer layer of skin. Additionally, despite the mild edema and erythema associated with the procedures, the skin looks and feels smoother because of the new outer layer of skin.
Dermabrasion refers to a procedure in which the surface of the skin is removed due to mechanical rubbing by a handpiece with an abrasive element that is often in the form of a burr, wheel, or disc. This process tends to be painful and messy. In fact, the procedure is sometimes painful enough to require a local anesthetic. Dermabrasion leaves the skin red and raw-looking. The removed skin can take several months to regrow and heal. Recent efforts have led to the use of lasers instead of abrasive elements, which have resulted in less bleeding, but the pain and mess remains.
Efforts have been made to decrease the mess caused by the process waste, such as removed skin and blood, by adding a suction element. As the process waste is drawn into the suction opening, skin that has not been removed is also pulled against the grit surrounding the suction opening, so the procedure remains fairly messy due to the abrasion that takes place outside of the handpiece by the grit.
Microdermabrasion refers generally to a procedure in which the surface of the skin is removed due to mechanical rubbing by a handpiece emitting a stream of sand or grit. For example, a handpiece can be used to direct an air flow containing tiny crystals of aluminum oxide, sodium chloride, or sodium bicarbonate. The momentum of the grit tends to wear away two to three cell layers of the skin with each pass of the handpiece. Alternatively, new “crystal-free” microdermabrasion techniques utilize a diamond-tipped handpiece without a stream of grit.
Efforts to add a suction element have been more successful in microdermabrasion than in dermabrasion because the handpiece applying the stream of grit is more controllable to a localized area. That is, as the removed skin is drawn into the suction opening, skin that has not been removed is also pulled towards the handpiece where it is treated with the grit stream, allowing for simultaneous local treatment and suction.
Microdermabrasion removes moisture from the skin, so the procedure is always followed by the application of moisturizing creams. However, similar to topical application of moisturizing creams prior to microdermabrasion, the moisturizing elements only work as deep as the active ingredients can passively migrate through the remaining epidermis.